Country Music Stoops To A New Low - And Response (10)

I was listening to our award-winning country music station and they were playing a new song by a new artist. Thomas Rhett was singing his song; "I Want To Have A Beer With Jesus." Really?

How disgraceful and demeaning. This is an insult to the Christian nation. Is there no fear anymore? I can't believe that someone would write such lyrics that demean our Lord and Savior of the world.

I realize our nation is moving to the left, but please respect the Lord Jesus.

Mike Harvey
Signal Mountain

* * *

Mr. Harvey, the song did not say he wanted to get drunk and party with Jesus. It merely said have a beer with Jesus. Drinking a beer is not disrespectful in any way. And drinking a beer is not a sin. Even if it was, Jesus communed with many sinners in his day. This fella wouldn’t be the first.

If you’re on a mission to clean up country music you can start with superstar Toby Keith whose songs are full of foul language and lyrics about getting drunk, having promiscuous sex, and not turning the other cheek. Leave this new guy alone. He just wants to talk to Jesus over a beer, not get drunk and fornicate with twins like Toby Keith in his song “As Good As I Once Was.” Personally, I think that’s an all time low for country music. Direct from an artist who is about as far from the left as you can get.

Hayley Roberson

* * *

What the heck does the "left" have to do with so called country music? You might be better off to paint with the right brush, no pun intended. Country music has some of the most traditional, conservative leaning artists of any music genre.

Current country music also has some of the most shallow, poorly written, so-called songs of any genre too. "I'd Like to Check You for Ticks" and "She Thinks My Tractor's Sexy" come to mind. \

This current tour-de-force "I Want to have a Beer with Jesus" is just one more in a long line of forgettable little ditties.

It's actually insulting to even call this current noise "Country Music" because it's nothing more than poorly played 70's Rock n Roll sung by the latest flavor of the month off-key hunk with a fake nasal accent. It's now nothing more than music intended for a 14-year-old female consumer demographic. Sad really.

Herb Montgomery
Hixson

* * *

Seriously? This upsets you? I wonder if you even bothered to listen to the lyrics or if you were so shocked and appalled by the word "beer" appearing in the same sentence as the word "Jesus" that you immediately shoved your head in the sand while blindly waving your Bible. Thomas Rhett wrote a song to express that if he had an opportunity, he would love to sit down and speak with Jesus one on one, and if given that opportunity he would try to draw it out so he could spend as much time as possible with said Savior, and ask him several questions that many people would like answers to. And yes, he would buy him a beer. You think this is a "insult to the Christian nation?"

I know you fundies fear the alcohol as if it were the Devil's own nectar, but seriously, get over yourself. Jesus' first miracle was to turn water into wine and while many there were obviously shocked, I don't think anyone found it insulting.

Despite the rallying cry of many right wing Bible thumpers, Christians in America are not being persecuted. Early Christians were subjected to beatings, were stoned, and killed. And you... can't force your beliefs on others? Have to say your prayers in your head? Have to accept that gay people exist? Are forced to listen to an amusing (yet profound) song on the radio?

You know what I find an insult to the Christian Nation? Self-described Christians who worry more about who they think God wants them to hate rather than just loving their neighbors. Who spend an inordinate amount of time trying to find ways that their rights are not being held as superior to others' rights, and crying foul because they are not given the higher status that they feel entitled to. Who constantly read about Jesus, think about Jesus, and talk about Jesus, but for some unknown reason, cannot seem to act like Jesus.

Georgia Bethwell
Chattanooga

* * *

Mike, what's wrong with wanting to have a beer with Jesus and how is that indicative of left wing politics? I suppose the singer could have a glass of water with Jesus, but there's always the risk the water might turn into wine as soon as it touches his lips, and wine generally has a higher alcohol content than beer. Besides, I'm sure Jesus, with his "render unto Caesar what is Caesar's" attitude, would not want to cheat the state out of precious wine tax revenue.

Jared Butler

* * *

Mike, would it have made a difference if the song was “I Want to have a Sweet Tea with Jesus?” Or would lemonade been a better choice. I don’t know the song but I did just looked up the lyrics. When someone says “he’s the type of guy I’d like to have a beer with,” that’s a compliment. It has very little to do with the type of liquid being consumed and everything to do with the admiration, respect, and honor bestowed to the person.

I’m not a big country music fan but based off of the title I would think the song is about a person wanting to spend time with Jesus. Doesn’t sound like a bad thing to me. For your approval Mike, here you go…

If I could have a sweet tea with Jesus
Heaven knows I’d sip it nice and slow
I’d try to pick a place that ain’t too crowded
Or gladly go wherever he wants to go

You can bet I’d order up a couple tall ones
Tell the waitress put ‘em on my tab
I’d be sure to let him do the talkin’
Careful when I got the chance to ask

How’d you turn the other cheek
To save a sorry soul like me
Do you hear the prayers I send
What happens when life ends
And when you think you’re comin’ back again
I’d tell everyone, but no one would believe it
If I could have a sweet tea with Jesus

If I could have a sweet tea with Jesus
I’d put my whole paycheck in that jukebox
Fill it up with nothing but the good stuff
Sit somewhere we couldn’t see a clock

Ask him how’d you turn the other cheek
To save a sorry soul like me
Have you been there from the start
How’d you change a sinner’s heart
And is heaven really just beyond the stars
I’d tell everyone, but no one would believe it
If I could have a sweet tea with Jesus

He can probably only stay, for just a couple rounds
But I hope and pray he’s stayin’ till we shut the whole place down

Ask him how’d you turn the other cheek
To save a sorry soul like me
What’s on the other side?
Is mom and daddy alright?
And if it ain’t no trouble tell them I said hi
I’d tell everyone but no one would believe it
If I could have a sweet tea with Jesus
I’d tell everyone but no one would believe it
If I could have a sweet tea with Jesus

Erik Benson

* * *

Besides, from what I read "Jesus turned the water into wine" Jesus would be more inclined to share a glass of a nice wine.

Michael Burns

* * *

Six responses, up to the time of my reading, and not one person gives any support or backing to Mr. Harvey, interesting. I know that Mr. Harvey is not the only person who feels this way about this song, I know that I do also.

The “have a beer” cliché is interesting. It is typical of the type of view many people have regarding Jesus. Would any of those who responded have a problem if the lyric was, “I want to smoke a doobie with Jesus?” I hear people who do not understand what faith in Jesus Christ truly means make such statements as these.

Another favorite of mine is, “When I get to hell I’m gonna party with my friends.” If someone were to stick a hot iron in the small of your back do you think you will be ready to party it up with your friends while you scream in agony? Hell will be much worse.

This song applies a cliché to Jesus from the viewpoint of a person who thinks Jesus is cool, but doesn’t have a personal relationship with Him. To truly understand the silliness of the lyric, one must have a relationship with Jesus Christ, not just knowledge of His existence.

Ms. Bethwell brings up the first miracle, Jesus turning water into wine. Two things that must be considered regarding that miracle: 1. Many of the people at the wedding feast were drunk, which is a sin. Jesus would not do anything to help them continue in sin (i.e. providing more alcohol to help them continue in their drunkenness), that is against the nature of God. 2. Jesus could make wine that is non-alcoholic if He wanted to, after all He is God in the flesh. But, you say, fermenting is a natural process. But, I say, Jesus is supernatural. After all He did create nature. Was it wine? Sure it was; however, it was not wine that sinful men made, it was perfect wine that Jesus created that would not allow men to sin. Main point, Jesus would not help people continue in sin, He did not do that anywhere else in Scripture, why would He here? And, by the way Ms. Bethwell, Jesus plainly called sin, sin, and did not sugarcoat or tolerate it.

Can someone give a Scripture that chronicles Jesus sitting and having a glass of wine with someone just for the sake of drinking? I don’t know of one. Please do not try to bring up the Passover, it was after all a meal. However, that is the point of the song, let’s sit around and have a beer, just to drink a beer while we talk.

Guess what, I would not want a beer, sweet tea or lemonade, I would just want to listen to Jesus. I can quench my physical thirst after He quenches my spiritual thirst.

Mark Harwood
Sale Creek

* * *

It's a sad state of affairs but the majority of the Christian faith has been brainwashed by the right wing sect of the faith that they cannot be a Christian if they drink beer,dance, like black people, and vote for Democrats.It's taken about 30 years to convince the mainstream of this lie. This my brothers and sisters is going to take a whole lot of undoing. Here is where you'll find me.

F. Doug Craig
Chattanooga

* * *

I'm not going to waste my time writing about what other country songs have to say, They're irrelevant to Mike's point. I do agree with most of the other post but here is my point.

1) I think Mike and Mark may be caught up in being religious. Christ Jesus did not come to this world to make us more religious, rather to give us a relationship with the Father and the Holy Spirit, as well as Himself. I do not like beer and as far as I'm concerned you can pour it back in the horse. However, I love my Savior to the core of my being and I too would love to "have a beer" and a long sit down face to face with Jesus, while here on earth.

2) Mark, beer is legal; a doobie is not, yet.

3) In no way do I want my response to be divisive or judgmental, rather to share how I feel.

J. Pat Williams

* * *

There is a serious problem in our city when this is the most responded-to opinion article in months. We're less concerned about everything else going on in our city than we are with a a homogenized garbage music singer having one low alcohol beverage with a fictional character?

Here's hoping Usher doesn't write a song about having a Mike's Hard Lemonade with a unicorn.

If local and state politicians are truly interested in improving the lives of the poor they should take a look at the recent study by Steven Horwitz of the Mercatus Center at George Mason University. Breaking Down the Barriers: Three Ways State and Local Governments Can Improve the Lives of the Poor. The study takes a look at the regressive effects of occupational ... (click for more)

Those in the know tell me the month of August is National Peach Month, so as I take a stroll through garden, I am paying particular attention to the poppy and the gladiolus because they are the “birth flowers" of this month. But as we dole out our months Orchids and Onions, let’s substitute a peach and a pit, that hard seed you find when you bite into a peach. A PEACH to the ... (click for more)

Michael Futrell, 38, was shot by Corey Mullinax, 25, Saturday night in Cleveland at approximately 9:15 p.m. T he shooting occurred at Forest Grove Apartments at 2350 Blackburn Road SE. According to multiple witness statements, the victim, Mr. Futrell, walked over to the vehicle of Mullinax, where the two were speaking. The suspect then shot the victim in the torso. ... (click for more)

Javier Lansden, 18, was shot early Sunday morning on West 38th Street. At approximately 2:47 a.m., the Chattanooga Police Department responded to 264 Water Street for a person shot. Officers found that the shooting occurred at 263 West 38 th Street. The victim stated he was sitting on his bicycle at 263 West 38 th Street, when a dark-colored ... (click for more)

The Chattanooga Football Club didn't score until the 69th minute but after Chris Ochieng's first goal, they would score two more to earn a 3-0 win over visiting Indiana Fire. The NPSL national semifinal win, before more than 9,200 fans, gives Chattanooga another shot at a national championship after losing to the New York Red Bulls U23 team in the 2014 final. ... (click for more)